Federal prosecutor to join First District Court in Hastings

Star Tribune

Last update: November 24, 2009 - 9:23 PM

Erica MacDonald, a federal prosecutor, has been appointed to a state court vacancy in Hastings, the governor's office announced Tuesday.

MacDonald, 42, was chosen by Gov. Tim Pawlenty to join the First District Court to succeed Leslie Metzen, who retired in May.

MacDonald has been an assistant U.S. attorney in Minneapolis since 2001.

She also was a judicial law clerk to Minnesota Court of Appeals Judge Harriet Lansing from 2000 to 2001, an assistant U.S. attorney in Chicago in 2000, an associate attorney with the Kirkland and Ellis law firm in Chicago in 1999, and a judicial law clerk to U.S. District Judge James H. Alesia in Chicago from 1997 to 1999.

MacDonald earned her law degree from DePaul University College of Law in Chicago in 1997, and her bachelor of arts degree from the University of Notre Dame in 1989.

MacDonald was born in Greenwich, Conn., and grew up in Dallas. She lives in Mendota Heights with her husband, Jim, and two sons, Kenny 10, and Mitchell, 7.

PAUL WALSH